Posts Tagged: Released 2012

Posted February 6th, 2014 by http://www.staffersbookreview.com/author/justin& filed under Reviews.

Set in Henrietta, Virginia, Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys exhibits characteristics of the “southern novel”, a form I associate strongly with Tom Wolfe or Harper Lee. Novels of the American South tend to focus on the gross inequalities that exist there, often couched in racial terms, but also the nature of inherited wealth juxtaposed with the… Read more »

Posted November 12th, 2013 by http://www.staffersbookreview.com/author/justin& filed under Reviews.

Scott Lynch tackles something in Republic of Thieves that falls flat on its face. Politics. This doesn’t mean the novel fails. It’s actually a wonderful addition to a series that continues to excel with Lynch’s unique voice and kinetic narratives. Where Republic of Thieves falls short, MJ Locke’s Up Against It knocks it out of the park with the best portrayal… Read more »

Posted May 9th, 2013 by http://www.staffersbookreview.com/author/justin& filed under Reviews.

The Winds of Khalakovo, the first installment in Bradley P. Beaulieu’s Lay of Anuskaya series, was raved about on this blog in 2011. I acquired the follow-up, The Straits of Galahesh, several months before it was released in 2012. Unfortunately, the first fifty pages felt impenetrable even after reading them a dozen different times. When Beaulieu announced the… Read more »

Posted March 26th, 2013 by http://www.staffersbookreview.com/author/justin& filed under Reviews.

With Andre Norton’s aged novel Star Guard, Tom Holt’s new novel Doughnut, and Howard Andrew Jones’ Pathfinder tie-in novel Plague of Shadows, I’ve found three authors and books to review that have almost nothing in common. We all have our crosses to bear, do we not? Andre Norton, a great forerunner (get it? Because she wrote Forerunner.) of science fiction,… Read more »

Posted March 12th, 2013 by http://www.staffersbookreview.com/author/justin& filed under Reviews.

In an effort to “catch up”, I’ve compressed several books into a single post. I hope this will be the last of my omnibus reviewing. Enjoy! The Kassa Gambit by M.C. Planck — Held back by an ending that doesn’t quite capitalize on the exceptional beginnings, Kassa Gambit remains a very entertaining debut effort. It works best as… Read more »

Posted January 7th, 2013 by http://www.staffersbookreview.com/author/justin& filed under Reviews.

I read a lot of young adult fiction in 2012. This was new for me. Nancy Kress was new to me too, although not remotely new to pretty much everyone else. Her newest novel, Flash Point, is the story of Amy, a teenage reality television star in a not-quite dystopia. Beneath the poverty line, with no means… Read more »

Posted December 27th, 2012 by http://www.staffersbookreview.com/author/justin& filed under Reviews.

Rumor has it Miles Cameron, author of The Red Knight, is a pseudonym for historical fiction author Christian Cameron. I’ve no idea if it’s true, but it wouldn’t surprise me. Orbit’s new novel has a ring of authenticity that fantasy often eschews, particularly with regards to combat and tactics. It’s also woefully unoriginal, layered with… Read more »

Posted December 10th, 2012 by http://www.staffersbookreview.com/author/justin& filed under Reviews.

The Desert of Souls, Howard Andrew Jones’ debut novel, and The Bones of the Old Ones, his second novel out this week, should be considered the gold standard on two counts. One, I haven’t read anyone who feels as in control of his first person narrator. Two, no one writing today has a better understanding… Read more »

Posted December 8th, 2012 by http://www.staffersbookreview.com/author/justin& filed under Reviews.

Raymond Chandler, considered one of the greatest crime writers ever, was not always considered as such. He was once quoted as saying about his critics, The thing that rather gets me down is that when I write something that is tough and fast and full of mayhem and murder, I get panned for being tough… Read more »

Posted November 21st, 2012 by http://www.staffersbookreview.com/author/justin& filed under Reviews.

Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I’ve watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die. -Roy, Blade Runner Fan fiction is a dirty word, isn’t it? It carries with it a connotation of corrupting someone else’s… Read more »

Staffer's Book Review is a weblog by me, Justin Landon, about science fiction, fantasy, and related things that inspire. Staffer's Book Review has been operating uninterrupted since March 2011. If you're interested in working with me on a project, please contact me at justin@staffersbookreview.com.
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